It may not be readily apparent if gold prices today are being manipulated, but some evidence does suggest that the average gold price per ounce is subject to various outside influences. These can come from both the governments and financial sectors of several nations. The current gold price in India may not be exactly the same as in other countries, such as the United States or the United Kingdom. To better understand how and why gold prices are being subjected to manipulation, it’s vital to examine various economic and political maneuvers in both the present and the relatively recent past.
China, Russia and India Are Buying Up Gold and Silver at High Rates
These three nations have been considered rivals of the U.S. for years, and they’ve been buying up noticeably high amounts of these two precious metals. China has accumulated more than 11.3 million ounces of gold during 2014, and consumer purchases of gold increased by as much as 49% in China during the same year. Russia has recently added over 20 million ounces of gold and silver to the country’s total reserves, making the Russian supply of precious metals more than 35 million ounces as of the end of 2014. A government official named Evgeny Fedorov has issued a statement that more gold equals more sovereignty for any country in the face of a global financial catastrophe. India’s demand for and purchases of yellow gold have surpassed both China’s and Russia’s. In the last quarter of 2014, India’s gold demand rose as much as 27%. The high stockpiles of precious metals have had an effect on the average gold price in India on any given day the markets are open.
Why the U.S. Delayed Returning Germany’s Gold and Silver After World War 2
To figure out some other reasons precious metals may be subject to price manipulation, information needs to be gathered from sources other than a standard gold price chart. History also has a rippling effect on gold prices today. After the Second World War, the U.S. government had accumulated large reserves of gold confiscated from Germany’s reserves, and the same gold has never been returned as part of U.S. efforts to secure the American dollar as the dominant worldwide currency. Efforts are currently under way to have 54,000 bars of gold repatriated to Germany’s Bundesbank, although the process is expected to take until 2020. As the numbers keep showing a weakening U.S. dollar, other nations such as The Netherlands have also stepped up their efforts to have their U.S.-confiscated gold and silver returned to them.
How Much Gold And Silver is Really in Fort Knox?
Fort Knox has historically been the location of one of the largest gold and silver stockpiles in the developed world, but the exact amount is a topic of speculation. Beginning in 1971, then-U.S. President Richard Nixon enacted a policy to temporarily stop redeeming gold for dollars and instead to keep printing larger and larger amounts of non-gold-backed paper money. The practice is still in place, and it’s thought to have decreased the amount of gold in Fort Knox. Some analysts point to many instances when U.S. gold has been leased or sold to other nations to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debts. An audit of Fort Knox’s current gold reserves would provide a definite number, but the U.S. Congress has repeatedly blocked efforts for this audit to take place.
Why Congress Won’t Agree to an Audit of the Federal Reserve
Congress won’t agree to this type of sweeping audit because a number of these key lawmakers have political motivations for keeping the Fed operating without audits. An important goal of Congress members is to vote along their party lines, and the current majority has voted against auditing the Federal Reserve. Reelection is also a higher priority for members of Congress than the moving forward with this action that could potentially cause disruptions in the current U.S. financial system. Extra caution concerning the health of the U.S. economy is an additional factor in the lack of audits of the Federal Reserve.
Devaluation of the U.S. Dollar and the Death of the Petrodollar
The declining value of the U.S. dollar is one of the most often cited reasons for both individual citizens and national governments buying up higher amounts of gold and silver. The average gold price per ounce has increased as the value of the dollar has decreased, and this trend is common during recessions and other periods of economic instability. Along with spikes in gold prices today, the petrodollar system is also declining. This system has traditionally used the U.S. dollar as the preferred currency to exchange for barrels of oil.
Gold and silver are considered excellent investments to add to an existing retirement portfolio, and these precious metals have been shown to resist fluctuations in the values of the dollar. To get started with your free gold kit, contact us today.
